Bryce is a new to me author, but the two readers of the book are some of my favorite women readers. I love their voices and was drawn into the book. Based on a real-life scandal during the Roaring Twenties, this novel introduced me to a part of history that I love exploring. There were a few moments where the text seemed to circle back on itself, which could have been edited better, but overall, I was so pulled into the trial and finding out what would happen. There were some parts that will make readers heated, like the closed room inspection. For those who enjoyed the books Passing by Larsen or The Vanishing Half by Bennett. Thanks NetGalley for the ARC, all opinions of my own.

This is a unique story about a young lady who is a white immigrant but is accused of being “not white”. Her father is dark skinned and therefore, in this time period, she is considered a negro. She has fallen in love with a real estate tycoon’s son, Kip. They marry and are madly in love. But Mr. Rhinelander is not going to stand for it!

Lordy, y’all this story covers everything, love, hate, family and racism. There are quite a few moving parts and the author expertly weaves them all together to create an uncommon tale. I am still thinking about these characters, especially Alice.

Alice is trapped and she doesn’t even know it. But as the years pass, she slowly begins to understand what is happening and she is going to have to let Kip go. As the reader, you see this years before she does and it breaks your heart in more ways than one!

The narrators, Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Chanté McCormick are fantastic. Y’all know I love a good tag team and these two are great!

Need a wonderful historical fiction novel about family, racism, and life…THIS IS IT!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest opinion.

The Trial of Mrs Rhinelander by Denny S Bryce
Historical fiction inspired by a real-life scandal of the time. Dual time line.
In 1924 New York, Alice Jones is from an English immigrant family. She meets and falls in love with Leonard “Kip” Rhinelander, a shy heir to his prominent family real estate fortune. When they secretly marry, Kip’s parents threaten his inheritance, because they believe she is not white. Kip freely admits, he cannot live without the money and his father’s approval even though he loves Alice. He knew it would come to this while Alice was completely unaware. It’s the start of what will become a famous trial and news story about race, Justice, and social class. Reporter Marvel Cunningham is a pioneering Black journalist is following the trial and has formed her opinions of Alice but after they meet one night and trade stories, Marvel is realizing how much they have in common and how the world has already put them into a specific lane.
In 1941 Roberta is told by her boss that she is to interview her Aunt Alice. Roberta hasn’t talked to her aunt in years, and isn’t really given a choice but to reconnect and try to get more details from the reclusive woman.

🎧 I alternated between an ebook copy and an audiobook. The narration is done by Chante McCormick and Joniece Abbott-Pratt who do a fantastic job with the performance. The two have very distinct voices and can easily be identified. Both have strong voices and are able to express emotions clearly. I liked their voice contrasts which made it easy to hear the timeline and POV change. That’s not always as easily heard as it is here.
As usual, I listened to this at 1.5 which is the best to match local conversational speed.

I found this story sad in so many ways. Alice thinks she’s white and even asking her parents, is told that “your mother is 100% white, so you’re white” regardless of her skin color, regardless of her father. She believes what she’s been told but Kip knew what everyone else thought and married her anyway. Alice continues to love Kip though he’s gone back for the money.
There’s a whole lot more through the annulment and trial and then support payments. More social injustice. More family thrown into turmoil when Alice declares herself black for the trial. It’s sad that it mattered then. Even more so that it is still a factor.
The story is sad but also enlightening.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley and RB Media.

My love for this book is endless. I felt so bad for Alice once I learned about her story and why she was the way she was. She loved that man! The media and the court system betrayed her. That man definately betrayed her but she loved him too much to blame him. This is a wonderful book about a period in time we seem to have forgotten about.
The narration was perfection. I loved both perspectives. They were flawless.

A historical novel covering a very real society scandal that was crazy even for the Roaring Twenties. Alice Jones is of the working class and falls in love with Leonard "Kip" Rhinelander, he of the 5th Avenue High-Society old-money families. However, their marriage is not so much contested for Alice's working class background, but for the whispers that her background may not be so "pure." Lenny wants Alice but also wants his inheritance. He comes up with a scheme that will allow for both. This is the fictional take on the story of the annulment trial that rocked New York Society.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and RB Media for this audio e-arc.*

3.5 rounded up. This novel recreates life for a young woman of working class parents who is wooed by and falls in love with a wealthy heir to a substantial fortune. Based on a true story, his father objects to their love and various schemes are concocted. It is all quite believable and scandalous (at the time). Race became a sticking point and defining oneself as white or negro (at the time) was a matter for the courts, handled shockingly (at ANY time!).
The story alternates between their young love and some 20-30 years later, when things have sadly not changed all that much for women of color. If you enjoyed The Personal Librarían, you will likely enjoy this book, also historical fiction.
The audiobook narrator did a good job with various characters and accents. After a shaky start when there was a bit of histrionics, things settled into a rhythm and the story was easy to follow and interesting.
My thanks to the author, publisher, and #NetGalley for loaning me and advance copy of the audiobook for review purposes.

Beautifully written, The Trial of Mrs. Rhinelander tells the astonishing story of a family in New York from the early 1920s through the 50s. While I can't speak with authentic certainty, I believe the family in question would today proudly call themselves Black. But as the story opens, the Jones family is not "passing" as White; they truly identify that way and are confounded when first one of their own, and later an entire community, reassign their racial identity for them. (Dad's family comes from the West Indies; Mom is a whiter than white British immigrant to the U.S.) When Alice and New York society scion Leonard "Kip" Rhinelander first fall for each other, neither one gives race a second thought. The only important question is where they can find some privacy to do the things young people in love want to do. But Kip's family gives race a second thought. And a third. And they declare in no uncertain terms that a Rhinelander canNOT be married to a Negro. The story is told in flashbacks as Alice's niece seeks to understand her aunt's continuing legal battles with the Rhinelander family even as WWII draws to a close. The Trial of Mrs. Rhinelander is informative, entertaining, and one that I will long remember.

This book....whew! From the very first page the story itself pulls you in and you have no hope of setting the book down. Character development initially takes backseat to a plot that twists and turns and had me seeking justice before I even knew who I loved or hated! The storytelling is rich, the narrator did an amazing job, and I simply cannot wait to read more from this author. The author highlights the challenges presented of color and financial classes and the ripple effects they have within society. Awesome book; highly recommend.

I listened to this books thanks to RB Media who provided a copy via NetGalley.

Alice Jones lives in 1920s New York, she is the daughter of an English woman (white) and English man (mixed race). She and her sisters have been raised as white, this is what they believe. When Alice meets wealthy socialite Lenny Rhinelander and soon they begin a love affair. When they decide to elope against the wished of both families it causes a media sensation because all of a sudden the media is branding Alice as coloured. Something she fervently denies. This is based on a true story which makes it all the more intriguing as the question of Alice's race end up in court. The social implications of what it meant to be considered white or coloured were extreme. This is a dual timeline story set in the 1920s and 1940s.
This was an unusual one to rate for me because although the circumstances of the story were very interesting to the point I ended up researching the story and looking up photos of the real life Alice Jones Rhinelander and Lenny Rhinelander as well as their family and history - all this was plus points. However I felt the execution of the book dragged on somewhat. I felt like it could have got to the point a lot quicker. I enjoyed the backstory of how the Alice and Lenny met but once the trial started and especially once it ended was very repetitive and lengthy. I did not particularly enjoy the 1940s chapters where Alice's niece Roberta interviews her Aunt. I much preferred Alice's point of view in the 1920s.
Regarding the audio narration I feel like I have to mention this reduced my enjoyability of the book because of a couple of reasons. There are 2 narrators: one for Alice POV (1920s) and one for Roberta's POV (1940s). My beef is this: the narrator for Roberta had a very strong I think southern USA sounding accent which I didn't feel suited the character as she is born and raised in New York to parent also from New York. it distracted authenticity. The 2nd issue I had was with the narrator from the 1920s POV. I had no qualms with Alice's voice but I could not and I mean could NOT stand the accent given by the narrator for Alice's parents who are English! As a British person myself I thought the accent was nowhere near what English accents sounds like (in any part of the country) it was that bad!. It made me cringe so badly, I contemplated switching off. They really should have picked a better narrator.

This was an interesting story, and a sad story. I had never heard of this before despite it being based off true events. It's pretty hard to listen to all the hardship Alice had to go through just because of her family history and even more crazy when you realize this actually happened. I immediately went to read the true events after this.

This story is so well written, and the narrator did a wonderful job bringing each character to life. I listened to this audio book in one sitting, because I absolutely loved it. I plan to read more books by this author.

Based on the true story of Alice Jones who's parents moved to the USA from England. She has always thought of herself as 'white', but when she marries a wealthy socialite her life is turned upside down to discover that in the USA she is considered 'coloured' due to her father being from the West Indies. Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC/audiobook of this very interesting case.

This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Denny S. Bryce, RB Audio/Recorded Books, and NetGalley.

This audiobook is narrated by Joniece Abbott-Pratt and Chanté McCormick. I like that each point of view character got their own narrator. It helps to keep track of who said what to whom which is important in an audiobook. Also Joniece Abbott-Pratt is one of my favorite narrators.

This is told in alternating chapters and timelines. Roberta Brooks is the 20 yr old niece of Alice and her timeline begins in 1940. She works at the New York Amsterdam, a local Black paper as an assistant. She's hoping to be a reporter in the future. Her first real reporting assignment is to meet with her Aunt Alice.

Alice Beatrice Jones is the maternal aunt of Roberta. Her POV chapters begin in 1921. The trial itself began in 1924. Alice is the middle child of 3 girls born to her British parents. Emily is the oldest sister and she marries Robert, a Black man and is Roberta's mother. Gracie is the youngest, she marries a white Italian man, Anthony 'Footsie' supposedly attached to the mafia. The sisters are mostly close. Her husband is a casual friend at first and eventually they have a full blown relationship.

The book deals with race throughout much of the narrative but I wish the novel had gotten into the differences between the British and US view of race at that time. Instead this had a different focus and it really worked well.

I read Love on Trial by Heidi Ardizzone & Earl Lewis in 2021, which is a nonfiction history of the Rhinelander trial. So, I was familiar with the basics and super excited to be approved for this arc from NetGalley. This was really, really well done. I advance ordered the audio from Audible because I'll definitely read this again.

Thank you to Denny S. Bryce, RB Audio/Recorded Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own.

This is the first I have read this author and enjoyed learning about this real life trip. Set in the eery 1920s Alice Jones found herself falling for Lenny Rhinelander whose family was part of the '400' in the social register at the time. This was a real-life scandal that lasted for decades. Alice wanted nothing but the love of her life. Lenny's family wouldn't allow it since Alice did not come from money and her lawyers couldn't prove her father was white. In the 1940s, Alice's niece, Roberta, reconnected because her boss at the newspaper wanted a story and Alice would only talk to her niece. The book moves between the two story lines to reveal the complex details of Alice's life. Flows pretty well but the characters are not relatable in my opinion. An interesting trial regarding race and shows the lengths the Upper Crust went to in regards to the rules of society.

Thank you Kensington Publishing, the author and NetGalley

No matter what the era is, seems the worst thing to be is a colored woman. Nobody wants to be black, and yet...we're so fabulous. Go figure! I guess I have so much pride, it was cringey to hear this woman’s family go to great lengths NOT to be considered African-American. (Who is going to pull George Jones aside and break it to him that 'West Indian' is not a race.) And yet— we’re fabulous. What’s not to love? The world wears tanning potions to look like us, lip fillers to look like us, mimics the way we sing, claim our cornrows and bonnets are new discoveries they just invented. What’s the saying? "They want our rhythm... but not our blues."

The author of this book gets bonus points for introducing this trial to this generation. I was so intrigued by the epic scene in the judge's chambers that I dove into my own rabbit hole, researching the real Alice…Lenny…and this case. I was shocked to find that Alice really did have to do that. I guess it worked but…whoa! As a black woman myself, I’m not sure what they expected to find, in that we come in all shades and colors, and there’s nothing about disrobing that screams ‘she’s black!’ We're of the human race, not aliens! Chalk it up to 1920s objectification of woman…and the black body.

Goodness gracious Lenny, have a backbone! We are spoiled by endless stories of men who will move mountains to be with their woman. Not this guy. Honestly, I think that his secret plan- which never made a lick of sense to me- was unwise, and the whole thing got away from both of them.

Any book that sends me to Google to research for hours gets big points from me. I can’t figure out what Alice truly believed about her race and what Lenny knew. Again, we're spoiled in 2024, in that all these answers are only an Ancestry DNA test away. I feel the story flip flopped-- giving us clues that various characters knew, or did not know she was black-- and perhaps it’s because it was equally jumbled up IRL.

I was approved for both the e book arc and the audiobook arc. The story is wonderfully written the way the racial complexities of the times are portrayed and and what constituted white or black.

This historical fiction novel is set in the Roaring Twenties. A story revolving around a Black journalist, an interracial marriage and a dramatic divorce case. Bryce does not hold back with the times when women for fighting for their futures. Love against all odds, parents who do not accept an interracial relationship and the emotions which everyone goes through.

Partly set in New York in 1924. Alice grew up “white” not knowing some of her heritage. When she falls in love with Leonard “Kip” Rhinelander, he is aware of her background. Once Kip’s parent find out they want him to annul the marriage.

When Leonard proposes a divorce, Alice becomes the target and Kip’s prominent background might destroy her. Alice is devastated at how she is being treated. She meets another proud colored woman who works for the news, and finally finds the courage to stick up for herself

A dual timeline where we hear Alice’s’ voice in 1924 and her niece in 19